EON

Monza, Italy – World champion Fernando Alonso was fastest ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Friday’s second practice session ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

It was a reversal of fortunes for the McLaren-Mercedes drivers, who were behind the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa in the morning session but dominated in the afternoon.

Alonso clocked 1 minute 22.386 seconds, finishing 0.823 seconds ahead of the season’s overall leader Hamilton.

Raikkonen was down in eighth place in 1:23.833, with Massa sixth in 1:23.722.

“It’s a good start but we’re not suddenly 1.5 seconds faster than the Ferraris,” said Mercedes sports chief Norbert Haug.

Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella of Italy was third fastest in 1:23.584.

Finnish driver Raikkonen had clocked 1 minute 22.446 seconds to edge his Brazilian team-mate by 0.144 seconds in the first session, with Britain’s Hamilton third and Spain’s Alonso fourth.

The German Nico Rosberg in a Williams enjoyed a solid performance to finish fifth in both session.

Meanwhile Germany’s Nick Heidfeld in a BMW-Sauber, who is fifth overall, was ninth and seventh, while teammate Robert Kubica of Poland was fourth in the afternoon after an eighth-place in the first session.

Hamilton leads the drivers’ standings on 84 points, with Alonso on 79, Massa on 69 and Raikkonen on 68.